A place for some seriously wild ruminations

Foreign Policy in the Tank

The discussion of the “deal” with Iran over the production of one or more nuclear weapons raises questions about our overall U.S. foreign policy. Understanding that the world is too big for the U.S. to catalog and address every problem – in fact that is the task of the peoples and countries involved – still, are we paying attention where we should?

The Middle East: the problems there aren’t going away just because the president and his advisors have swung our attention, allegedly, to the Far East, home of Red China, nutball North Korea (I hear they are going to create their own time zone, another sign of their detachment from reality and the rest of the world into a soul-smothering bubble), and the large eastern portion of Russia, part of the vomiting volcano of Vladimir Putin’s revival of Soviet authoritarianism. Iran and its organized terrorist apparatus thrives, as do other forms of Islamic apoplexy. The terrorism often obscures the genuine plight of Arabs, Berbers, Semites, and diverse religious groups in the region and leaves their condition unrelieved. As with the other peoples, the security of Israelis remains elusive, and their own more radical elements and policies help to defeat the accomplishment of that goal. President Obama’s policy of a reduction of U.S. forces and political leadership overall and in the area in particular, wittingly or unwittingly, is designed to allow terrorists freer rein, something that is sure to combust yet further strife, violence, and bloodshed.

The Far East: Thanks to the longstanding obtuse and detrimental economic and commercial policies of the American public and private sectors, Red China has grown into an economic and military beast, which in turn metastasizes its political will and power. Meanwhile, the American economy has diminished, the illusion of success masking a redistribution of wealth away from the middle and lower classes and into the hands of the upper echelons. Fewer have more; more have much, much less. With that backdrop, the president turns our military attention to the Far East, but for what purpose? We cannot impede the growth of Red China’s military on our current course and, in fact, we aid and abet it, having turned over factory after factory to them, borrowing from the cash we essentially give to them, so that now we want to defend against it’s interests and those of their allies, interests which threaten our security and our stability, but against which we bring much less economic, military, and political power than before! Red China, North Korea, and Russia – that unholy trinity or, as Reagan once said, that “Axis of Evil” – is back with a vengeance, manifested in their belligerent and undeterred cyber warfare against us. What are we going to do about it?

The Americas: Could our influence here be any less? Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua remain alienated from us. Mexico does not appear to respect us and seems far from a solid ally. The Red Chinese, not us, built a new soccer stadium for the Costa Ricans, ingratiating themselves with the locals in our own neck of the woods. Word is that the Red Chinese are and have been establishing an alarming presence in Panama by the Canal Zone. Even putting aside the illegality of much immigration to our country, can the United States, which now has over 300 million people plus a genuinely high unemployment rate, sustain the riotous migrations of Central and South Americans? Can the appalling obtuseness and negligence of our Congress and president in the matter of immigration lead anywhere but disaster?

So much more needs to be written, taking into account also Europe and Africa, but I hope I have given a slice of a picture of the situation. There is great cause for genuine concern.

I wish it were easy to say, “Vote for this person” or “Vote for this party”, as if in one fell swoop these ills could be remedied. It isn’t. In many cases, the pragmatic solutions will cross ideological lines. We need to bring back manufacturing to the U.S. We do need to redistribute wealth, or perhaps said better, undo the predatory redistribution that has been robbing our middle and lower classes. When our economy offers little more than lower wages and unemployment, do you really expect people to turn down government assistance? On the flip side, we need a mighty military and a free and fair market. When the “free” market favors certain wealthy interests, the status quo, limits the vast majority of the average people, and increasingly puts money into the hands of the people and corporations that already have an abundance, is the market free? What does it say when financial houses, rather than inventors, producers, managers, and workers, control all the money and business outcomes?

We are going to need a mighty military, and that requires that taxpayers invest in it. It’s expensive, but it’s necessary to our survival and prosperity. Plus, it is long past time for our government to establish a new cyber warfare branch of the military.

So examine the candidates and the party platforms carefully. We aren’t going to get a perfect candidate. Plus, we have to consider domestic policy. We have much work to do there.